D&D 2024 Sorcerer Spell List: Best Spells by Level

Introduction

This guide is part of the D&D 2024 Spell Guides hub.

The 2024 Sorcerer prepares a deliberately small list of level 1+ spells. That is enough room for a focused kit, but not enough to prepare every attractive answer. Pick spells that solve a recurring problem, then let Metamagic make those reliable choices more flexible.

Spellcasting Basics

Charisma is your spellcasting ability. You know four Sorcerer cantrips at level 1, gain another at levels 4 and 10, and can replace one whenever you gain a Sorcerer level. Your level 1+ list is prepared rather than daily-swappable: it grows with the Prepared Spells column and one prepared spell can be replaced when you gain a Sorcerer level.

The key constraint is Concentration. A character can maintain only one Concentration spell at a time, so Haste, Hold Monster, Greater Invisibility, and similar effects compete with one another even when your prepared list has room for all of them.

Metamagic begins at level 2, when you choose two options. You gain more options at levels 10 and 17. Usually you can apply one option when casting a spell; Empowered Spell and Seeking Spell expressly make exceptions, and Sorcery Incarnate changes the limit while Innate Sorcery is active at level 7.

• Empowered Spell: reroll a number of spell damage dice up to your Charisma modifier.
• Extended Spell: double a qualifying duration, with a Concentration benefit when it applies.
• Quickened Spell: change an action spell into a Bonus Action spell, while observing its stated level 1+ spell restriction.
• Subtle Spell: remove Verbal, Somatic, and most Material components; it does not make every casting impossible to notice.
• Twinned Spell: spend 1 Sorcery Point when casting a spell that can be upcast to target another creature, increasing its effective level by 1.

Cantrips: Practical Picks

Spells by Level

Level 1

Shield ●

Shield is a Reaction defence for a character who often has modest Armor Class. It earns a prepared slot when attacks regularly threaten to hit you, rather than merely because it is a familiar spell name.

Mage Armor ●

If you do not have armor from another feature, Mage Armor supplies a long-duration base AC. It is a reasonable option for an unarmored Sorcerer and less valuable when another source already sets your AC.

Chromatic Orb ●

Chromatic Orb gives a blaster a damage-type decision at the moment it matters. Its costly material component is part of the spell's practical cost, so confirm the character has it before building around the spell.

Sleep ●

Sleep is strongest when the campaign still presents several low-Hit-Point foes. It can be a good early prepared spell, but reconsider it as enemy durability rises.

Level 2

Misty Step ●

Misty Step changes position without requiring a clear walking route. It is especially valuable for escaping a melee threat, crossing a gap, or taking a safe line of sight before using an Action on a later turn.

Hold Person ●

Hold Person can Paralyze a Humanoid that fails its Wisdom save and repeats the save at the end of each turn. It is excellent in a Humanoid-heavy campaign and much weaker when the usual enemies are not Humanoids. Allies within 5 feet can capitalize on a hit against a Paralyzed target.

Shatter ●

Shatter offers an early area-damage choice for clustered enemies. Take it when the group needs that shape of damage, not as a universal replacement for every single-target spell.

Scorching Ray ●

Multiple attack rolls give Scorching Ray a different risk profile from a saving-throw spell. It can fit a focused blaster, but a generalist may get more value from mobility, defence, or control at this level.

Level 3

Fireball ●

Fireball is a strong area-damage spell when several enemies can be caught without endangering the party. Empowered Spell is a sensible use of Sorcery Points after a particularly poor damage roll, not an automatic tax on every cast.

Counterspell ●

Counterspell is a campaign call. It can be worth a slot when enemy spellcasters are common and occupies a slot that otherwise serves your routine turn when they are not.

Haste ●

Haste can substantially improve one ally's mobility and defence while you maintain Concentration. It is strongest when that ally has a clear plan for the additional limited action and the party can protect your Concentration.

Hypnotic Pattern ●

Hypnotic Pattern is a Concentration control option against creatures that fail its Wisdom save. Check creature type, immunity, ally placement, and the encounter's likely duration before treating it as your default level-3 spell.

Hot Take: A concentration spell is not automatically the best spell in your book. Prepare the one that changes the encounters your group actually faces, then keep a non-Concentration option for turns when that spell is already doing its job.

Level 4

Banishment ●

Banishment is single-target control with a Charisma save and Concentration. It can buy the party time against a dangerous enemy, but it is not a substitute for checking the spell's current target, duration, and campaign implications.

Polymorph ●

Polymorph can solve an encounter defensively or offensively, depending on the target and available beast forms. Its flexibility is real, but it competes directly with every other Concentration spell in your kit.

Greater Invisibility ●

Greater Invisibility supports a character or ally who needs repeated attack rolls while remaining hard to target. It is a focused buff rather than a general answer to every fight.

Dimension Door ●

Dimension Door is an escape and repositioning tool with far more reach than Misty Step. It earns its slot in adventures where moving two willing creatures past danger or across a large distance is a regular problem.

Level 5

Hold Monster ●

Hold Monster expands the Hold Person concept beyond Humanoids. It is a single-target control option when one creature is the encounter's immediate problem, but its repeated saves and Concentration requirement still matter.

Synaptic Static ●

Synaptic Static combines area damage with a long-lasting penalty after a failed Intelligence save. It is appealing when the party needs a non-Concentration spell that disrupts a group without claiming your main control slot.

Cone of Cold ●

Cone of Cold supplies a large close-range damage shape. Choose it when that cone regularly catches the right targets; do not prepare it solely because its damage dice are large.

Level 6

Chain Lightning ●

Chain Lightning is a non-Concentration damage choice for encounters with several suitable targets. Its value falls when the battlefield cannot support the jumps.

Disintegrate ●

Disintegrate is a high-risk single-target spell that rewards a failed Dexterity save. It fits a character who wants an answer to one dangerous target, not a player looking for reliable damage every turn.

Globe of Invulnerability ●

Globe of Invulnerability is a specialised Concentration defence against lower-level spells. It is worth a slot in a caster-heavy campaign and can be dead weight in one built around weapon attacks and monsters.

Levels 7-9

Finger of Death ● (level 7) is a high-level single-target necromancy spell. It belongs in a damage-forward kit, but a failed Constitution save is never guaranteed.

Power Word Stun ● (level 8) works only when its Hit Point threshold and current text fit the target. Treat it as a finishing control tool, not a blind opening move.

Wish ● (level 9) can duplicate a spell of level 8 or lower under its listed conditions. Its broader uses have stated consequences, so decide with the GM and the campaign's stakes in mind.

Meteor Swarm ● (level 9) creates four separate 40-foot-radius impact areas. Each affected creature makes a Dexterity save against 20d6 Fire plus 20d6 Bludgeoning damage, or half on a success; overlapping areas can make its placement unusually important.

A Focused Prepared List

There is no seven-spell package every Sorcerer should copy. A healthy prepared list usually includes a repeatable damage cantrip, a defensive Reaction, an escape tool, and one or two effects that define your intended role. The remaining slots should be campaign-specific rather than another spell that competes for the same Action, Concentration, save, and target type.

When deciding between two spells, ask which one you expect to cast in the next three sessions. That question is more useful than an abstract ranking, especially because a Sorcerer can replace one prepared spell when gaining a level.

Metamagic and Resource Planning

Sorcery Points return on a Long Rest. At level 5, Sorcerous Restoration gives you one Short Rest recovery of up to half your Sorcerer level in points before your next Long Rest. That makes points a resource to budget across the adventuring day, not a feature that refreshes every short rest.

Quickened Spell is strongest when it changes the turn without creating a conflict with its own level 1+ spell restriction. Twinned Spell works through the spell's higher-level targeting rule rather than a broad single-target test. Subtle Spell removes listed components except consumed or costed Material components, but a visible effect, witness, or consequence can still reveal that magic was used.

Subclass and Expansion Spell Access

The 2024 Player's Handbook supports Aberrant, Clockwork, Draconic, and Wild Magic Sorcery. Start with the subclass's current details and always-prepared spells, then use your regular prepared slots to cover the role those details do not cover.

• Draconic Sorcery: Choose damage spells that benefit from your ancestry's eventual damage bonus, but keep defence and mobility in the list as well.
• Wild Magic Sorcery: Use dependable spells that remain useful even when a surge changes the scene. Do not rely on spells from unapproved books simply because they fit the theme.
• Aberrant and Clockwork Sorcery: Prioritise control or support only when the party benefits from that role; your subclass spells should free your ordinary prepared slots rather than force a second copy of the same job.
• Spellfire Sorcery: Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun adds always-prepared Spellfire Spells at Sorcerer levels 3, 5, 7, and 9, plus Counterspell at level 6. Its early list includes Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Lesser Restoration, and Scorching Ray.
• Shadow Sorcery: Ravenloft: The Horror Within grants always-prepared Shadow Spells at the listed Sorcerer levels. Its level-3 package includes Bane, Darkness, Inflict Wounds, and Pass Without Trace.

These subclass spells do not count against your regular prepared-spell limit when the feature says they are always prepared. Confirm that the campaign permits the sourcebook before designing around them.

Arcana Unleashed Spell Access

The supplied Arcana Unleashed spell table gives Sorcerers seventeen verified entries: Disruptive Tune, Dueling Ground, and Wither and Bloom (2nd); Catnap and Inflict Doubt (3rd); Festering Blast (4th); Enervation and Waves of Exhaustion (5th); Aura of Evasion, Fractured Awareness, and Power Word Pain (7th); Entrancing Mirrors, Iron Body, and Lightning Ring (8th); and Detonate, Vision of Elapsing Eons, and Wail of the Banshee (9th).

Compare an entry with the prepared spell and encounter role it would replace. The D&D 2024 Spell Guides hub provides the shared access map, and the Arcana Unleashed overview provides sourcebook context.

Related D&D 2024 Class Guides

For ability scores, subclasses, feats, and level-by-level details, see the Sorcerer Class Guide.

Other D&D 2024 Spell Lists

Compare the other class lists when a multiclass or party role makes the trade-off relevant: Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Warlock, and Wizard.

Start from the D&D 2024 Spell Guides hub for guidance across the lists.